There are some pretty good sized pontoon party boats being pushed around our little 40 acre lake place up north using 12 volt Minn Kota's. My first MK was a direct drive 65 if I remember right and on a small boat, it was actually faster across the lake than the planetary gear larger prop MK that replaced it. The direct drive was a little quieter as well, but not enough of a difference to matter much. We can't motor troll on our no wake lake, but casting with that slow turning electric we can sure work over the shoreline. Starting and stopping the outboard was a bother. I really like the long extension telescoping tiller handle on the newer Minn Kota units.
